Dear Rick -

I would like to start by saying I hope you do actually read this email. I work in customer service and I know how horrible it can be to work with angry customers, so I am going to do my best to present you with the facts of the situation and remove emotion from this.

For 8 weeks we have been trying to upgrade our cable with Comcast. It was only this week that we were able to get someone out here because all other attempts resulted in either (a) a lost online chat to which the representative never followed up and tried to regain contact or (b)a dropped phone call that again, the representative never tried to get back in touch. Seemed a little odd that no one ever tried to get back in touch with us.

We were thrilled that we finally talked to someone who was able to place our order and set up an install to UPGRADE our basic cable to a bigger package with more equipment.  Our install was set from 2pm-5pm today (7/12). At 4:57 we got a call saying they would arrive at 6, at 6:05 we got a call saying they were right around the corner. The installation person showed up at 6:47 pm. We scheduled our entire day around this install and when they were running late we said we had another commitment and asked if we could reschedule to tomorrow, they said no – there are no openings for over a week – so I stayed home and skipped a very important meeting. Surprisingly, that is not my main complaint here…that is really just a small thing compared to what happened next.

Once the installation person got here to install they had our order 100% WRONG. We ordered a cable card for our home theater PC (to which we were VERY clear we needed a CABLE card), and he brought a TiVo card. He asked me where the TiVo was and I said we didn’t have one, we have a home theater PC and needed a cable card, so he laughed (quite hard actually) and said it’s not going to work with our system and we shouldn’t have ordered a TiVo card…we did not order a TiVo card. We do not (nor have ever) owned a TiVo and would not have requested a card for one.

Then he moved to the next room to install the HD Cable box we ordered, so I confirmed that it was in fact an HD box and he said “no, this is a digital box, not HD, the work order was for digital.” Again, the man laughed in my face when I told him the order was wrong and at the fact that I was visibly annoyed with the situation and proceeded to show me the order he was given, while still laughing. I said I understand he was given the wrong order, but what is going to happen to make the wrong order right, even if it’s tomorrow? He responded to me and said “oh, they are not going to call you or follow up,  you need to contact customer service and start the entire process from the beginning.” He then proceeded to leave and continued laughing all the way from my unit to the door of my building about how funny it was that I was upset.

Honestly, to have the order wrong is 1 thing, but showing up almost 2 hours late, having the wrong order, laughing in the face of a customer AND saying that I am going to have to contact Comcast to get the situation fixed…they will not contact me?! Really? Is this how you expect to retain customers? We have been loyal Comcast customers for YEARS, internet and cable, and you can bet that we will absolutely go without cable or switch companies before we upgrade with Comcast to a better, MORE EXPENSIVE, service if this is the customer service that you provide. I don’t appreciate being laughed at when I have spent my entire afternoon and evening waiting for this service.

Would love to know your solution here.

Respectfully,

Leah Case

-I have a history of breakouts, and after the first 4-5 days, my skin has drastically cleared. I had a dermatologist appointment on the first day of the fast and asked her about my skin and she said it’s totally hormonal and nothing she could do. Although I totally do believe that our hormones affect our skin, especially in our mid twenties, I also think what we eat directly affects our skin! (totally wish I had a before and after pic!)

-Acid reflux is a genetic thing in my family, and I, unfortunately, am one of the unlucky ones! I have been taking medicine for this for YEARS and still suffer from reflux. Well, I have not had ANY reflux the past few weeks…this is huge. I will be REALLY interested to see as I bring foods back in, which ones directly cause reflux. Do you think for one second I will continue eating (or drinking) those things? Heck no!

-For years I have been trying to reach a weight loss goal. Now, I am not quite there yet (Although the 9 lb loss did help!) my stomach is noticeably flatter. The pants I bought the week before the fast that were too tight are not hanging on my hips. All of that to say, my calorie intake did not really decrease, it stayed around the same (I track this daily), the thing I did change is putting foods in my body that my body was created to process!

So, the biggest physical lesson I have pondered: Do you think our bodies were designed to digest and process things we can’t even pronounce?? One thing that I used to eat a lot are the “Lays Light” chips. Those contain Olestra which is a fat molecule that our bodies can’t digest or process, so it just pushes it through your system. Now, why did I think this was a good idea?? After looking at a lot of the low calorie (not natural) foods I like to eat, I realized they are pumped full of chemicals and artificial sweeteners in order to bring the calorie content down. I think I’d rather have a serving of nuts for 70 more calories than a 100 calorie pack that is packed full of processed and fake ingredients…my body much prefers that!

Of course I will indulge in treats and sweets every now and then (ok, and maybe even a diet coke…how could I not??), but my hope is that Chris and I have learned in this time that our bodies were designed to process good foods, and although a bit more expensive at times (but not to the extreme people say…), I believe it it totally worth the investment.

-

When I am done I will post my progress pics (day 1, 30, 60 and 90), so make sure you stay tuned! I can’t wait to see the end result!

oh, by the way! If you want to check out p90x for yourself you can get it from me: www.beachbodycoach.com/coachleahc

Matzah or Unsweetened Rice Cakes with Natural PB: Spread some PB on pretty much anything and you have a great snack! I like this as a little snack in the morning before lunch to hold me over a bit longer until lunch time! Just make sure your peanut butter is free of sugar and any ingredients you can’t pronounce. You can also make your own PB by throwing about 1/2 cup of peanuts and 1/2 tsp of oil (your preference) into the food processor! Let it spin until it’s smooth and you have your own PB…pretty delicious actually!

Fruit: this doesn’t really require a description…just fruit! If you are feeling like you need some extra calories or fat, grab a tablespoon of PB for your banana or apple…deeeeelish!

Homemade Salsa  or Guacamole and Baked Corn Chips: Guiltless Gourmet makes a great organic, baked corn chip! To make the salsa:
-3 large tomatoes or 5-6 plum tomatoes, diced small (or 2 cans of drained, diced tomatoes)
-1 medium white onion
-juice of 2 limes
-1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
-salt to taste
Throw it all in the food processor and enjoy…one of my faves!!

Homemade Hummus with Veggies, Matzah, or “legal” crackers (just check the labels!)

Hummus Recipe:
-1 can drained chick peas (save the juice!)
-1 1/2 tablespoons tahini paste (you can get this at Whole Foods, etc)
-2 gloves garlic
-1/2 tsp salt
-2 tablespoons olive oil

Combine chick peas, tahini, garlic and salt into food processor with 1/4 cup of liquid drained from chick peas. Run food processor for 3-5 minutes or until smooth, mine took about 3. When smooth, empty into serving bowl and add olive oil, mix in thoroughly.

You can always make your hummus with whatever flavors you like…onion, lemon or lime, sundried tomato…whatever!! Just throw it in the food processor and mix it up!

Nuts of Any Kind: make up a bunch of baggies of 1 serving size of nuts (3 tablespoons…don’t cheat! )and keep them in your car, snack drawer purse…wherever! I also like to throw in a serving size of raisins (1/4 cup) for some extra calories…just make sure you look for raisins (or any dried fruit) with no sugar added.

Idea 1:

Brown Rice Crispie Cereal, unsweetened Rice Milk, banana or strawberries (you MUST check the labels on the cereal and milk to be sure it fits! I found a great Brown Rice cereal at whole foods and the ONLY ingredient is puffed brown rice)

Idea 2:

Same as above but shredded mini wheats, obviously not frosted

Idea 3:

Oatmeal prepared with rice milk or water and a dash of salt. Throw in some strawberries, raisins or natural PB at the end to add some umph!

Idea 4:

Ezekial 4:9 Cereal with rice milk and raisins: you gotta check the labels on this cereal, and it is not the tastiest cereal but once I added Rice Milk and raisins it was actually pretty good! This cereal is super high in fiber and will definitely keep you full a lot longer than typical cereals!

Whole Wheat Pasta with Red Sauce and Tabouli. The trick is finding a sauce without sugar! You’d be surprised how many things you buy have sugar (and preservatives) in them, it’s actually quite ridiculous. We found an awesome product at Kroger, it’s a Private Selection sauce that is all natural ingredients…perfect. Takes a little more time at the grocery store, but I highly encourage you to check out the labels of the things you are buying, there is absolutely no need for sugar in red sauce.

We also added in some crumbled tabouli for some more calories and extra protein. Tabouli has a nutty texture and really takes on the flavor of whatever you cook it with. You’ll probably have to head over to your Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s to find this product, but it adds a nice texture to this meal…kind of like ground meat! So throw it in a pan, cook it up and then toss it into your pasta, sauce and some green peppers….delish and easy!

We started the journey last Wednesday and so far it’s been pretty interesting and fun! We are experimenting with different recipes and foods and really learning how much garbage is in the foods we usually eat (preservatives, sugar, and a bunch of other stuff we can’t pronounce!). One thing I also realized today is that usually when we buy fresh fruits and veggies they go bad SO FAST, now we are going to the grocery store every few days to restock because those are the things we are snacking on. I have really enjoyed the process thus far (although I know we have A LOT more days ahead of us…) but I am really excited to see how God reveals Himself to us in the next 6 weeks in this time of fasting leading up to Easter.

I think so often we get wrapped up in the busyness of life and forget to truly dwell on the reality of what it is we are celebrating. A God who sacrificed his only Son for our sins…that’s pretty heavy. My prayer during this time is that I can meditate on that truth and truly focus on what this season is about…not on mini-Cadbury eggs!

So, I’d love for you to follow our journey…I’ll share stories, experiences, recipes…whatever…hopefully this will help others who have considered trying the Daniel Fast as well!

• Read through the entire Bible in 1 year. I am going this with a group of ladies on Facebook and am really excited about this challenge. I can’t wait to see what I learn through the daily reading and really digging deep into the Word.
• Teach more classes! Right now I am teaching 1 class a week and I REALLY want to get more on my schedule. I would love to be teaching Turbo 2-3 times a week as well as 1-2 PiYo classes a week.
• Reach my goal weight! This is a totally superficial goal but I have been working so hard for so long and have yet to reach my final goal that I set in 2005. So, this is me making my public announcement. I am only 15 pounds away from my goal and I know I can reach this really easily with discipline and focus.
• Get involved in my community. I’m not sure what this is going to look like yet, but I really want to figure out how Chris and I can get involved and make an impact in our neighborhood.

So, those are some of my goals for 2010…what are yours?

Happy New Year!

(please excuse the formatting of this post…I can’t figure out how to fix it!)

Chris and I decided to adopt an amazing dog named Jack  and it was one of the best decisions we have made thus far  as a married couple! We have had so much fun with him  and he is absolutely SPOILED rotten. He is a great dog and  we love taking him to the dog park and talking about how  awesome he is.

January also meant that Chris went on full time staff at our church, Cumberland Community Church. It has been a huge blessing to be part of that church and we LOVE calling it our church home!

Ok, now that I am writing this I realized I may not have something for every month. February was probably great…I did go to the Britney Spears concert with Casey in February…

March was a fun a busy month! We went up to North Carolina for our 6 month anniversary and had such a fun and relaxing time! This was also the month that I decided to become a Beachbody Coach! Being a Beachbody Coach has been an adventure. I have an amazing team of coaches under me and it is so amazing to be able to help people find workouts that they love which means they are living healthier lives. More on this later!

Hmmm….April…I turned 25! That was weird and old feeling, but it was a great birthday celebrating with friends and family!!

May was FUN! We went to New York City with some of our  best friends, Casey and Dan for about 5 days. We stayed in  an AMAZING apartment near 5th Avenue and had so  much fun exploring the city, shopping, getting n scary  vans for the sake of fake designer bags, and lots of good  food. We also went to Il Bastardo which is a bar that they  frequent on MTV’s amazing show “The City” looking for  Whitney, but alas, we did not see her there. Still fun  though!

In June I went to the best concert of my life…New Kids on the Block. I am only kind of kidding. We had a blast and got to touch Donnie’s hand…yes, we were that close.

In June I also got certified to teach Turbo Kick. It is an amazing, fun and crazy cardio kickboxing type of class. I am now teaching at a local Y and loving any time I get to teach. It’s nice to get paid to workout!!

This was my first June in 3 years not being in Panama City for BigStuf. Weird change, but definitely the right decision. I did miss being down there and experiencing 12 weeks of camp with my incredible interns…

I can’t remember anything about July…

My sister Jen and I flew out to the OC for Camp Turbo Kick in August. It is a 4 day camp created by Chalene Johnson for people who LOVE all things Turbo. We had an AWESOME time with lots of workouts and enjoying sunny California. This was also a really cool time for me to meet a lot of other Beachbody Coaches that I had met  through Facebook and Twitter. We had a great time!

October was somewhat monumental for me! Myself and 6 other women from our church walked the Breast Cancer 3 Day. It is a 60 mile, 3 day walk to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer research. It was a powerful, powerful weekend. It was very demanding physically and emotionally but I was so humbled seeing women in the midst of their treatment walking alongside us or cheering for us…talk about perspective. I would never trade those 3 days, blisters and all. The relationships built in those 3 days are friendships I will cherish for many, many years to come! Love you Glo Girls!

From Living Proof Ministries blog…

Thanks for letting me take a few days before I attempted to put something so indescribable into actual words. I had to let it all soak in. Friday was the climactic moment of our trip, the day when Compassion’s child sponsorship program was fully realized and finally personalized for each one of us. We had the incredible opportunity to meet our precious sponsor children in the flesh along with a translator so that we could communicate with them. It was a day filled with laughter and tears. I really had underestimated what this particular day would mean to me. It was an incredible thing to actually see their faces and to touch their skin. All of the sudden everything became so very real. My two India sponsor-kids, Manot and Pramila, along with their two Fathers, had traveled over a day’s journey just to see me.

I have to type it again. They had traveled over twenty-four hours just to see me.

When I learned that the four of them along with translators from their village had traveled such a distance, it really intimidated me and made me feel a little bit insecure. I thought, “Are they annoyed that they had to come all this way just to see me- I am so not worth it?” Since they knew absolutely no English I asked via the translator, “Are they exhausted from the long journey?” The translator then went back and forth with them and with a huge smile on his face, he said, “No, they’re just really excited.” And I took a deep breath, opened my heart, and let it all soak in.

Here is a picture of the five of us:

He is saying, “Please pray for us.”

Seriously, can one heart take it?  That’s what nine-year-old Manot was trying to tell me. After all the gifts I had brought him. After all the food we had served him. After all the fun we had. This was his one urgent request:

“Please pray for us.”

I assured him through my tears that I would never ever stop praying for them.

That was the last verbal exchange we had before we said good-bye with oversized lumps in our throats and then we waved and waved and waved. I can’t count the times they looked back at me. They hung out of the window of the van, and we blew about a million kisses back and forth. As the van started to move, I felt my heart sink.

Will I ever see them again? 

Will they make it?

Angie and I both looked at one another, each of us looking to the other for some much-needed consolation. I realized quickly I wasn’t going to get it from her. And she certainly wasn’t going to get it from me. We were both a mess. Both of our eyes were fixed on the van. We just kept watching it. Until the van was no longer in sight. With tears welling up in my eyes, I asked Angie if she thought we would ever see them again. Then we both broke down and lost it. That heartrending moment lingered for what seemed like forever.

And then I knew we needed comic relief so I reverted to my humor defense mechanism and said, “Considering our tolerance for curry, the reality of a return in the near future doesn’t look promising, does it?”

And so we conjured up half a smile through our tears. We just had to.

Here is a picture of the two of us in a moment far less intense than the one I just described.

I can’t tell you how badly I wish my two kids had electricity and wi-fi to go along with it. How bad I wish that they could read this post. I know I can write them but I want them to hear my heart right this very moment. I would say to them, “Manot, I love you. And Pramila, I love you. And I’m not just saying it because you need to hear it or because I know your parents probably don’t say it often. A week ago that might have been the case. But not today. Today I awoke with thoughts of you. Wondering what you are doing this very moment, so many thousands of miles away from me. Hearing the faint pitch of your sweet voices and your quirky laughter. Worrying about what you’re eating. If you drank enough water to be satisfied. Picturing you, Manot, smiling and kicking around a soccer ball in the hot sun and you, Pramila, scribbling on the new drawing pads we bought you. Your project leader told me that you are going to be a great artist. Mostly, I want you to know that I’m praying for you. Praying that you will live to declare how lavishly our God has loved you through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Praying that in spite of all that you may endure, that you will know that our God is good and that He loves you with all of His heart.”

Oh, what a deep imprint Manot and Pramila have made on this hard heart of mine. And not just the two of them but all of the people, so deeply loved by God, in Calcutta and India at large who must fight for their survival, each and every day. I could never have prepared myself for all that I saw last week. For example, during one of my visits to a devastating slum, a half-clothed, poverty stricken crippled man with his back hunched over in a ninety-degree angle limped slowly over to me. He had purchased a coconut for me with whatever small amount of money he did have and then proceeded to slice the top up for me to drink so that I could be protected from the heat. And mind you, I was the one going back to the air-conditioned hotel. Not him. What was I supposed to do with that? And that is just one of about several hundred stories I could tell.

Because we each had experiences like this and because I am sure our eyes were about to glaze over, the leaders of our group called for a debriefing in lieu of a group lobotomy. During this debriefing they gave us a safe place to talk about what some of us were feeling and thinking. It was great but we really needed another entire week to hash it all out. I’ll never forget the words that Shaun Groves said before we left the debriefing. He asked us this question:

“Now that you know, what will you do?”

He continued by saying, “You’ve spent your words lavishly on the blog, now it’s time to spend your lives.” Talk about messing me up. And so it was to this tune that our re-entry began.

I will confess something about myself. You know that I’m going through an emotionally or spiritually trying time when I bust out one of the movies from “The Lord of the Rings” Trilogy. Other girls may bust out “Sleepless in Seattle” or even “Pride and Prejudice” but I bust out Tolkien. There was one awful season in my life that along with reading the books, I actually watched at least one of the films every night for two months. I wish I were exaggerating. You can ask my Dad because he was so ready for me to get a grip. I was totally hogging the television and he had deer-show watching needs that definitely were not being met. And, yeah, I know…spending three hours a night watching movies wasn’t exactly good stewardship of my time. But it’s the truth. I nearly have the entire Trilogy memorized. And that is saying a lot since most of the proper names sound exactly the same.

Well, yesterday, it happened again. This time my victim was “The Return of the King.” Have you ever seen it? Do you remember the last scene when Frodo unexpectedly boards the ship to sail to the Grey Havens? Throughout their life-threatening journey to Mordor, Frodo and Sam kept dreaming about such things like the taste of the strawberries on the Shire but when Frodo actually does get back to the Shire, for some reason, it is like he can’t fully enjoy the normal comforts that the Shire has to offer. I’ve always speculated about why exactly Frodo has to sail to the Grey Havens. I think that Frodo has just been through too much. His scars run too deep. After years of being back at the Shire they still haven’t healed. In the movie he asks the rhetorical question: “How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on, when in your heart, you begin to understand, there is no going back? And then he explains, “There are some things that time cannot mend. Some hurts that go too deep…they have taken hold.”

But I’m not a hobbit.

And this is real life.

I don’t get to sail off into the beautiful sunset with Gandalf.

Ironically, my life just happens to be deep in the heart of excessive American culture. And I’d by lying to you if I said I don’t enjoy it. The honest truth is that I know myself. I know that quickly normal life will pick back up and the temptation will be to forget all I have seen. To move forward without any change.  While others around me may wish for me to hurry up and acclimate to normal life again, my fear is that I will too quickly move ahead. That I will forget all I have seen, heard, touched, smelled, and felt.

I know myself.

I’m just an All-American twenty-six year old girl, consumed with comfort, security, vanity, wealth, and materialism like the “best” of them. In light of who I know I am I feel compelled to ask that the Lord would perform a miracle on my behalf- that he would keep the emotional wounds that were carved during the past few weeks from healing. Now, I know you may think I’m a bit morbid, eccentric, or even just plain weird. But that’s okay, because I’ve been called far worse, I’m sure of it. So this is my prayer today- that time won’t have its typical way with me. That the sharp edge of the sting I feel deep in my soul won’t ever be dulled or alleviated.

With so much love and affection,

Melissa

P.S.  Thank you for coming away with me to Calcutta.  This blog community has floored me with its willingness to pray for us and also to get on board with what the Lord is doing through Compassion.  I want you to know that your generosity has been noted.  Those of you who are already sponsors with Compassion and are interested in visiting your sponsor child in the future should click here for more information.  I know the trips are costly and time-consuming but if the Lord paves the way or places it on your heart, then check it out.  You are an amazing group of people and I am so honored to “know” you through blogland.  Wouldn’t have missed it for the world.  By the way, I also want you to head to read a post written by Patricia Jones, one of my new favorite people in the world.  In my opinion, it is one of the most powerful posts from the entire trip.